Street Urchin
by WolvesOfLightning
Summary: Link, a orphan on the streets of Kakariko, has just made a giant discovery. He can use magic. Now he has been whisked off to Hyrule castle to be trained with the sons and daughters of the wealthiest people alive, including the Princess Zelda. Link x Zelda
1. Chapter 1

So...hey there guys. I'm kinda new here and stuff, so this is my first story posted. Ever. So, if I messed up on any of the little techy details...or the big stuff... please, tell me. R&R and tell me if I even have a chance at writing at all. Although I am 13 so I guess even if I suck now I can get better.

Street Urchin

Chapter One

Link was running. Running from one of the most important and powerful people in the world. He was running from the king of Hyrule himself. The very same one who was the commander of the Hylian forces in the Imprisoning wars, the one who had acted as a peacemaker when the war was drawing to a close, who had gone personally to each leader of the races of Hyrule and persuaded them to sign a treaty, drawing the 20 year war to an end. The one who was rumored to have taken on 100 Gerudo warriors at once, and defeated them all with barely a scratch. Link turned a corner and found himself at a dead end. The sound of footsteps echoing down the street made his blood freeze. He turned, and found himself facing Daphnes Harkinian, the present king of Hyrule.

/

It was turning out to be a beautiful day; the sun was slowly climbing through the deep valleys of the mountain range of Deaths Gorge, in which the tallest and most dangerous volcano in Hyrule, Death Mountain stood, where the mighty Gorons lived. The sun had just started to reach the in between of the mountains, and was illuminating the mist that covered most of Hyrule in the mornings, stretching from the small town village of Kakariko that lay right at the foot of Death Mountain, to the Castle Town of Hyrule in the north, the Farm of Lon Lon Ranch in the middle of Hyrule field, all the way to the beautiful lake Hylia at the western side of the fields.

It was in that very same mist that Link snuck his way through the town of Kakariko, towards one of his secret hideouts on top of the roofs of one of the residential buildings. Nimble and quiet as a cat, he jogged silently through the empty streets and alleys until he reached the house. It was early, and no one in their right mind would get up at this time unless forced to. He climbed the house, using a crate nearby to reach the bricks up farther that were sticking out more, giving him handholds all the way to the top of the two story house. At the top there was a small fort, or at least that's what Link called it. In all honesty it was little more than a small tree house without a tree to be in. He had built it from scratch up here, and it had taken him all summer to finish it. He climbed in, and sat down on a crate he used as a chair. His target wouldn't show up till about two hours before noon, so he had time to spare. He would be waiting for a while, he knew, so he decided to do one of the few things that helped with waiting. He thought about his past.

He was an orphan, a peasant growing up all alone on the streets of Kakariko. Well, not all alone, he amended. He did have Navi, though if she counted as a parent, a friend or even a sister he didn't know. Navi was a fairy, a rare race in Hyrule, thought to only live in the Lost Woods or the fairy Fountains scattered throughout the world. She had found him when he was twelve; hiding in a crate that the ranchers from Lon Lon had left when they brought their supplies to the town. She had stayed with him that night, and never left after. Right now she was off watching the mayor's manor, where a supposed important guest was staying the night while traveling through the country. You never could tell if they were actually important because all the Nobles had inflated opinions of themselves. They all acted like the world would just end if they weren't there to keep it working right. It was him who was Link's mark. He planned to steal from him.

Link was fourteen now, and he knew how to survive on the streets. Stealing was the name of the game, and he was one of masters. He could take the belt off of your pants without you even realizing. Literally. He knew how to survive on the smallest amount of food and water possible, and could outrun the Hylian guards, even the ones without all the heavy armor, while jogging. He was more acrobatic than anyone else he knew or had heard of, and was no lightweight when it came to a fight, using his superior speed and agility against the enemy. He had even stolen a dagger a season ago, and could throw it 50 paces out and hit a bulls-eye, and he was only getting better.

Most people would wonder why a teenager would need to learn all this. Couldn't he have found a family and lived with them through his childhood? And what had happened to his parents?

In all honesty, Link didn't even know the answer to those questions himself. The farthest back he could remember was when he was seven, and had woken up one day on the side of the streets. He didn't even know when his own birthday was, so he just used that day since, he reasoned, he might as well have been born that day. He had survived on the streets since then somehow, because of instincts. They told him everything he needed to do. It was surprising, those first few weeks, when his body unconsciously stole apples and bread from the street vendors without him even realizing it, sinking into the shadows to hide himself from the guards without him trying. He had just accepted it, and saved all the questions he had for days such as these, when he had nothing to do but wait.

Who were his parents, and why did they leave him all alone on the streets? He was wearing earrings when he Awakened, as he liked to call the first day he remembered. They were turquoise rings, exactly the same in every way. Many people had tried to buy it from him, and many times he considered it. He always decided to keep them. They were the only things he still had from the time before he Awakened, and he felt very connected to them. He usually felt that way with things. Growing up as an orphan, you tend to have very little, and appreciated and connected to everything you did own. For Link that included his dagger, a small pouch on his hip that contained his most precious item, a wooden ocarina, and the clothes on his back.

"COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO." The sudden sound rose Link from his reverie, and he looked out at Kakariko. It was a very organized town, though it used to be sprawled and all over the place. That had changed after the war, because it was attacked and burned down easily. It was orderly now, and even after twenty years you could still see some buildings being built, the most noticeable being the archery store. After the war they had decided to build the more important houses first, such as the residential ones and the mayor's manor, and the less important ones when everyone had a home. They were almost done now, and the reason it had taken this long was because they had decided to expand the village majorly. The village was split into three parts, the Residential District, the Market, and the Plaza. The plaza was at the front of the town, and was basically just a field of grass with benches and a tree growing in the middle. The Market district was to the left of the plaza, and was near the entrance to Death Mountain. The Residential District was to the right of the Plaza, and the Mayors manor and the entrance to the graveyard were located there. To the north of plaza was a large windmill, which was where Link slept most of the time. He loved to climb up to the top and just sit and watch the townspeople go through their daily lives.

The sound Link had heard was a Cuckoo, and its crow signified that there was about an hour before Link's target left the manor, and that was when he would act. Normally Link only stole what he needed, and never more. The only time he had stolen more then what he strictly needed was when he took the dagger, and that was just because the owner was a cruel man named Ingo, a ranch hand at Lon Lon who often kicked Link when he passed by. The only reason Link was stealing from a Noble was because they were rich, and he figured a few rupees and a little food missing from his packs wasn't much to get angry about.

He sat, staring at the mayor's manor, willing Navi to come and tell him that it was time to act. He never liked waiting much, especially if it was in a line. Of course most people tend to not like waiting in lines either, but for Link, there was just something in him that completely despised them. If he was starving to death, and the only way for him to get food was to wait in a line of six or more people, then he would rather starve. Navi had once asked why it was six, and not five. He had replied with the fact that five was his lucky number.

_One more hour _he thought, _and then I'll be taking on the most difficult heist I've ever done. Stealing from a Noble...that's something that's only done in fairy tales. _It was true, too. Almost no one had the guts to steal from Nobles, because they always had their own bodyguards, and if they caught you the penalty was death. The Royal family was even more impossible, because of the Sheikah. They were a race of Hylians, at least that's what people assumed they were, who had sworn to live in the shadows to protect the Royal family. They were the best at what they did, which was hiding in the shadows, not letting anyone know they're there, and striking when you least expect it, using their speed and agility to the greatest advantage. Much like what he did, he realized with a start.

He was drawn out of his musings by a sound, a twinkling that no one else ever seemed to hear but him. He got up and stepped out of his fort just as the bearer of the sound arrived, Navi. She was a fairy, although only he seemed to be able to see her body. Everyone who had seen her besides him only saw her as a blue ball with wings. She claimed it was because she was his guardian fairy, and only he could see her true form. She was a miniature woman, and unlike most perverted adults seem to think, she did wear clothes. A forest green dress was what she always had on, and while some people might think blue glowing skin and a green dress didn't fit together, it just seemed right on her. Like nothing else in the world would fit her like the dress did.

"Link!" She exclaimed "The Noble's leaving the manor, and he only has two guards! This is gonna be so easy!"

"Alright Navi, calm down" Link replied with a smile. "You always tell me stealing is bad, yet you get so hyped up right before we do a big mark."

"Well you're going to do it anyway," She remarked, "I might as well get excited about it."

Link just smiled and shook his head. She was always so...happy. Even when he was starving and freezing out on the streets, she encouraged him to keep going, and that it would just get better from then on out. It was infectious. Whenever she was around, he couldn't help but be happier.

He started walking towards the front of the house, when he heard the door open. He quickly made sure he was hidden from view, but still able to see the street. A young girl, probably around his age, was at the door, and she seemed to be trying to sell something to the owner of the house. After a few moments, the sound of rupees being exchanged caught his attention, and then she started skipping towards the market, basket in hand. He knew her of course. After living here for seven years, he knew everybody, even if they didn't know him. Her name was Malon, and she was the daughter of the owner of Lon Lon Ranch. She was probably out selling their most famous product, Lon Lon Milk. He had heard other boys his age look at her and call her cute, but he didn't really agree. It wasn't that she was ugly; he just didn't have time for things like that. The only reason he even knew her was because she was nice, and always gave the other orphans money and food. Not him, of course. He never accepted handouts, unless absolutely necessary. It wasn't that he was too proud, it was just he didn't like the idea of owing anyone favors.

As soon as she disappeared and he heard the door slam shut, he jumped off the roof, landing with a roll to soften the fall. He started walking slowly, in the way his instincts taught that made people's gaze slide off of him like he was just scenery. Head down, hands in pockets, and walking slowly. This technique didn't always work, of course. He suspected it had something to do with his hair and eyes, even though they were usually hidden. It was hard to be part of the scenery with blonde hair, even if it was a dirty blonde, as the scenery usually wasn't yellow. Except for that one house owned by that crazy old bat Fracia, but that didn't count. And then there were his eyes, which were the deepest pair you have ever looked in, and happened to be two colors. His left eye was blue, like a sapphire, his right eye green, like an emerald. His eyes made people want to look in them; like once you looked you couldn't look away. He managed though; by making sure no one saw his eyes, and putting a black hood over his hair.

All around him were signs of life that were absent just an hour ago. Candles lit inside homes, the sound of cooking, wives and husbands talking about the day ahead of them, brothers fighting and sisters giggling. Link was gifted with exceptionally sharp hearing, and he could go into a tavern, and pick out one conversation out of the whole building, no matter where they were in the building, and listen in on it. _Not that it's always helpful, _Link thought, _there was that one time when that baby was screaming right next to me because his stupid mom dropped him on the ground. I mean, is it that much to expect your mom to at least not have the saying "did your mom drop you on your head when you were a baby" actually applied to you? And then of course there's the fact that every time we have a thunder storm I have to stick my hands in my ears all night to not go deaf._ Still he reasoned, it was very helpful in most cases, and he was glad he had that gift.

Link reached the plaza with ease, no one stopping him or asking him what he was doing. Not that he expected them to, but he had found that it was better to be careful, just in case. He looked around, and was surprised at what he saw. Not that it was any different than normal, but that was what surprised him.

The tree in the middle still stood as a lone sentinel, and there were still a couple other orphans and beggars lying underneath it and on the benches around the plaza. It was too early for them to beg yet, as no one was out. From what he had heard, this Noble was extremely important. Most Nobles who are important like to have all the common folk, peasants as they called them, line up and cheer for them as they paraded past, displaying their riches to the world. It was sick, what they did. On one such occasion, Link had seen Duchess Veran, a widow to the former Duke of Lake Hylia, order all the peasants to line up, and cheer for her. She rode past on a magnificent horse, one that looked like it had been cared for by the finest horse groomers around, proudly displaying all of her riches and expensive finery. But then a beggar, Link didn't know his name, stepped in front of her. He had pleaded on his hands and knees for a couple rupees, nothing much, just five or ten. She completely ignored him, and urged her horse on. Straight into the beggar. He was left there on the ground for three days with a giant hoof print imprinted in his forehead, crusted in blood, on her orders, for all to see what happened when a street rat got in the way of a Noble. Link hated them all.

Not to say that there weren't good Nobles, just that there were only one or two out of the dozens of them. One that Link knew of was Duke of Termina, Lord Kafei. He had visited once, when Link was twelve. He had found Link in the worst situation he had ever been in. Mido and his gang had attacked him and left him for dead.

Mido was another orphan on the streets of Kakariko, but there was a difference between them. Mido didn't beg or ask for money. He considered himself above it. Instead he beat on everyone else, and stole all of their stuff. He was the leader of Kakariko's very own gang, the Kokiri. Link had been in it, once upon a time, before Navi had found him. He had been there best, and had never failed a job. Back then, Link hadn't cared about anyone else, only that he survived till the next day. Well, nobody but Saria of course. She was the one who convinced Link to leave, that they could find a family and live together with a mom and a dad, not having to fight every moment of their lives just to survive.

So they left. And then Mido found out. Mido had always liked Saria, and hated Link because he thought Link was an obstacle he had to overcome to get her affection. This wasn't true of course. Even if Link was gone, Saria wouldn't have had anything to do with him. Mido sent someone to stop Saria and kill Link. That might seem harsh, but those were the rules. No one left the Kokiri unless it was in a body bag to the graveyard. They snuck up on them that night, and almost killed Link. But Saria jumped in front of him at the last moment, saving his life and ending hers. Link blanked out and didn't remember what happened next, only that the next thing he remembered he was standing over the charred body of the thug, and his hands were slightly burnt.

When Mido found out, he sent the whole gang after Link. But at the last moment, he decided to let Link live, but take all of his clothes and possessions. Winter was coming, and Mido wanted him to freeze and starve and suffer, because in Mido's twisted mind it was his fault Saria died. All Link had left was the fairy ocarina that Saria had given him, which he had hid the night before.

Kafei had found him that winter, and given him clothes and enough food and money to survive the winter. He had offered to take Link in as a servant, but he had refused. Even though he had saved him, he still had a general distrustfulness of Nobles. But that wasn't it; he couldn't say an exact reason why, only that his instincts also told him to stay. And he had learned long ago to trust his instincts. The sound of cheering raised him from his thoughts.

_What is wrong with me, why do I keep spacing out today? I have this weird feeling like...like today's gonna be the last day I see Kakariko for a long time, _he realized with a start. He would have stayed and tried to figure out exactly why he felt like that, but Navi was pushing inside his hood to the direction of the cheering.

"Come on Link, that's the Noble! We gotta go get ready." Navi exclaimed

"You know, this would be a lot less stressful if you had figured out who the Noble even was. If it's one of the more important ones, we might not be able to do this." Link told her.

"I already told you, Nobles like to trap my kind in bottles and study us, some of them even dissect us! There is no way I was getting any closer to him than I was." She explained.

"I know, I know. I just...have a weird feeling. Like this might be the last time I see Kakariko for a long time." Link replied. That weird feeling in his gut had gotten even stronger the closer they walked towards the cheering.

"Oh, stop being silly, nothing will go wrong. You've done this thousands of times." She said.

"Navi, that was forever ago. You know I haven't done anything like _this_ since a year after I met you. You should remember, you wouldn't shut up for days because you had finally gotten through to me, and how proud you were for me turning over a new leaf." Link said, his voice laced with annoyance.

"Oh be quiet." She huffed. "Besides, everyone knows stealing is like riding a horse, once you learn you never forget."

"Well I wouldn't know would I? I've never rode a horse." He replied, thinking of the magnificent creatures he had seen every once in a while come through town.

"Details, Details." Navi remarked "just quit your complaining and get on with it."

"Hey!" he exclaimed "I do not complain! And you're not the one who has to put his life on the line for a few measly rupees."

"Shhhhh. We're near the crowd." Navi said, quickly diving back in his hood. Like she had said earlier, it wasn't a very good idea to let it be known that you had a fairy.

They quietly approached the cheering crowd, slipping in and heading to the front. They couldn't see who the Noble was because he had yet to approach the stairs that were the main entrance to the residential district from the Plaza. On both sides of the stairway were raised walls, and that was where Link planned to hide, and dash out from when the Nobles back was to him. _Oh well, _Link thought _guess I'm not gonna find out who I'm stealing from until I'm done stealing from them. _

Link maneuvered his way through the crowd until he was at the spot he had chosen the day before, using the crowd to hide. Like before, he didn't expect anyone to stop him, but it was always better to be careful. Once there, he stood and cheered like everyone else, blending into the crowd perfectly.

"Well, well." Someone behind him remarked. "Lookie who we have here. If it isn't Link, my bestest buddy in the whole world."

Link froze. There was only one person he knew of with a voice THAT high and annoying. But that was impossible. He had heard he was in Jail, finally caught after two years of hiding. Link turned around slowly, and found himself face to face with none other than Mido, most annoying bastard in the world. Who also happened to have a knife in his hand. Pointed right at Link.

/


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Hey there. So yep….no real excuses as to my absence other than I obviously have a problem with commitment. I'm gonna be honest here and say that I have no idea if I'm going to finish this story or not. Just thought you guys should know that. Anyway, I don't really like it that much, but here's the next chapter. Please point out any errors when you find them ^.^.

Oh by the way IMPORTANT: I changed the age of Link in the story. He is now fourteen, Awakened when he was seven and left the Kokiri at age 12. Thank you.

Chapter Two

"Mido." Link said coolly, not showing his confusion. Link quickly sized him up. He hadn't seen Mido for two years. After finding out that Link had survived the year Saria died, he had deemed it his job to make his life even more hellish. Regularly trying to beat him up, hurting anyone who associated with him, Mido had made Links life very difficult. Then one day it just stopped. He had asked around and found out the guard had finally got to him. If that was true though, then he shouldn't have been here. No one escapes Kakariko dungeon.

Prison, or wherever he had been, hadn't agree with him. He looked incredibly thin, which was new for Link. He had always been on the fatty side, which was odd for orphan. Until you looked in on it and realized that was so because he beat up all the other beggars for their food and rupees. His hair was wild and all over the place, almost as unruly as Links, which was saying something. His face was taut and determined, but when you looked in his eyes there was something in them. Something that even the most idiotic person in the world would realize meant he was dangerously close to losing it. And Link was nowhere close to being the stupidest person alive. At least he hoped so.

"Mido." Mido sneered back, somehow making his voice get even higher and more annoying. Link slowly backed up, away from the knife. In the back of his mind he registered the fact that the cheering had gotten even louder. The Noble, and Link's food for the next few weeks, had just approached the stairs and was slowly starting to descend them...on his horse.

_What the hell kind of idiot rides a horse down stairs? _He thought. Not that he had time to think about it. Mido was very slowly advancing on him, knife in hand. He looked around hoping someone would notice and help. None of them were even looking at the scene unfolding right in front of them; they were too busy watching the Noble. _What are these people, retarded? There's a kid with a knife right in front of them and their too busy kissing up to a Noble to even notice?_

_ "_I guess you're wondering how I got out of the slammer huh? Well it's a long and complicated story, but I think I can skip the boring parts and just skip straight to the end." Mido said, in a dangerously calm voice. "I bribed the Warden. Yep, that's it. I had a lifetime sentence for murder, stealing and destroying private and public property, and all I had to do was bribe the warden 50 rupees to get out. What a corrupt world we live in my friend...makes me sad. Almost sad enough to cry."

Link, wondering where the hell this was going, was still slowly backing up. He had almost made it to the edge of the crowd, and could see the noble having his carriage hooked up to his horse. The crowd blocked his view however, and he couldn't get a good look at him. No one was doing anything to stop Mido, and he was seriously beginning to wonder if everyone in the world was retarded. They were looking right at Mido, but did nothing to stop him. Then he realized why they weren't doing anything. Mido had found one of the old Kokiri caps and tunics, and put it on.

Most gangs had tattoos, but every gang had some way to identify who was in and who wasn't. Besides their tattoo, Mido, for some idiotic reason known only to him, had chosen to make everyone wear tights, a green skirt, a green shirt and a green hat. It didn't matter what kind of hat, as long as it was green. And Mido had found Links old one. No one was acting because they were all afraid the _Fairy Boy _would come and hurt them and their families.

It was ironic now, he thought, because of Navi. But back then Link had despised the name. That rancher girl, Malon had come up with it. She had tried to give him some food one day, and when he said no and walked off, she had called out to him and said she was sorry. She didn't know his name however, so she had said the first thing that came to mind. Every child, whether orphan, farmer or royalty knew the legends of the Kokiri, a supposed society of children deep in the lost woods. In the legend, each Kokiri had a fairy. So of course the first thing to come to mind had to be Fairy Boy.

People around her had heard, and soon the name just stuck. He had done everything he could to get rid of it, but people have an annoying habit to do everything you don't want them to. Since everyone in the Kokiri basically had the same outfit, he was identified by his hat, which was one of a kind. And now Mido had dredged it up, after two long years.

"So I see you finally noticed. I found this hat back at the old hideout. Saria had said she loved this hat, and I always knew it would fit me better than it does you. Not to mention nobody bothers me with it on. Even after two years, you still reputation still cause's fear wherever you go. I'm impressed." Mido babbled.

_Goddesses, if he's gonna knife me, can he hurry up? I know in the stories all the evil villains have to have their monologue, but I figured at least that didn't happen in real life._ Link thought, but he wasn't really concentrating on him. The Noble was getting ready to leave, and Link was just a few feet away from the front. If he could just keep Mido going a little farther...

"But, back to why I'm here. You see Link, I found out the truth." Mido said suddenly, causing Link to look back at him.

"..." Link just stared at him, trying to figure out what the "Truth" was he had found out in prison. _Maybe he finally realized everyone was just following him to shut him up. Or maybe he figured out it was me who set his pet bunny free. He had seemed really sad when it was gone, but is it really enough to kill someone? He was overfeeding it, and the food would have been better used feeding everyone_.Whatever it was, he honestly didn't care. In just a few seconds, he had to jump out and...

"I know Saria's alive Link." Mido said.

Now this caused a reaction. Link quickly turned so all of his body was facing Mido, wondering what the hell he was saying. He had personally buried Saria, with the help of Dampe. He visited her grave at least once every other day. She was dead.

"I saw her. In prison." He said, still babbling out random crap. "I know what you did. You sold her out. Took the bounty off her head, just so you could eat for a few more days. I brought her with me. She's here right now. And she wants to talk to you."

Mido stepped aside, and behind him was... nothing. But still, he stared at the spot with that look in his eyes he used to have when looking at the _real _Saria, and then Link knew. Mido wasn't close to going insane, he was. And it had happened awhile ago. Link would have felt sorry for him, except he had a knife. And he had come looking for Link. Which could only mean one thing. Suddenly he stepped back in front of Link, hand with the dagger down by his waist.

"As she commands, so shall I act." Mido said, with his eyes closed. Suddenly they opened, and that insane look was covering his whole face, from his squinty little eyes to the malicious grin on his face. "Time to die, Link." Suddenly Mido stabbed, aiming at Links heart.

If Link were anyone else, he would have been dead in an instant. But he was the former Fairy Boy of the Kokiri, now just Link the orphan, but his skills hadn't degraded at all, and there was no way he had lived for ten years on the cold hard streets of this goddess damned town to die at the hands of an insane idiot. He jumped to left, twisting his body in midair so he was facing Mido's arm. He quickly grabbed his wrist with his right hand, using his left to punch Mido in the face at the same time. Mido dropped like a rock, and Link was gone. Turning quickly, he started charging towards the front of the crowd.

Behind him he heard the dagger clatter to the ground, along with the thump of Mido's body. But there was no way he was gonna look back. The Nobles carriage was hooked up to the horses, his baggage in another cart behind him. Link dashed the short distance between him and the cart, knocking over some people in the process. The element of surprise was gone because of Mido, so there was no point in trying to sneak over there. He flew by the two guards who had started to walk towards where they had been, and jumped onto the cart in a single leap. He reached his left hand down to grab something, when he noticed he had accidently grabbed his old hat. He quickly stuffed it in his tunic before reaching down again.

His hand hit something and he pulled it out and looked at it. It was a brown bag, dirty and looking like something HE would own. He had no time to ponder why a Noble would bother allowing this kind of filth in front of them, let alone in their baggage, so he quickly stuffed it in his pocket before he tried to put his hand back in the pile.

_SHIIIIINK_ "Hey! What do you think you're doing? Get away from there!" The guards voice was accompanied by the unsheathing of a sword, and Link knew he had spent to long there. He ran to the other edge of the luggage cart, jumped off with a roll, and ran as fast as he could.

He was at the other edge of the plaza from where he had started, almost to the safety of the market district where he could fade away into the alleys that he knew better than the back of his hand, when something possessed him to look back. Link wasn't stupid. He knew you never look back when making your getaway. It slowed you down, and worse, if you saw the opposition chasing you, you might get scared and make you sloppy. He knew all of this, yet he still looked.

On the carriage door, where the Noble would have sat in peace for the rest of his journey if not for Link, was a symbol. Now this wasn't as of itself very surprising. Every Noble had some sort of crest or banner that they loved to parade around in front of everybody to prove how important they were. But this crest was special. It was the crest of the royal family. Link was screwed, and he knew it. He could only hope it was some self important cousin who wasn't actually royal in there.

Just as he thought this, the carriage door opened, and out came a man not many could claim to know personally, but everybody knew of regardless. The very king of hyrule was in that carriage and that could only mean one thing. He was royally screwed.

Link turned, and ran fast, faster than he had ever run before. He urged his legs to go and go and keep on going fast, until he felt like a blur moving through the world. He ran on instinct, dodging and weaving through and around the market district. And as he ran through his village, he heard the king's footsteps behind. Somehow he was keeping pace with Link, and so he pushed himself even harder, put every last ounce of speed and strength into his legs to go faster.

He turned a corner and found himself facing a dead. The sound of footsteps made him freeze, and he turned around to the opening of the alley to find himself face to face with Daphnes Harkinian, the present king of Hyrule.

He wasn't able to see him very clearly, but what he could see made him worry. The king was a giant of a man, easily 6'4. Broad shoulders, narrow hips and giant muscles made anyone who was even slightly sane know that this was a man who embraced combat into his very being. He couldn't see his face from where he stood.

The king was sizing him up, just as he was doing to him. He could, even without his face, that the king was surprised. Probably wondering how someone so young could even think about stealing. Link doubted there were very many orphans up at the castle. After all, even if a Nobles parents died, there was always someone else to take him in and care for them. A Noble never had to worry about starving, or freezing to death, or your friends dying for you. And suddenly, Link was pissed. He had always been calm and cool, accepting of his lot in life without too much complaint, but suddenly it seemed so unfair that HE would finally be caught by someone who had been babied there whole life, had gotten to grow up normally and live happily. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and suddenly he felt a strange sensation burning inside of him. It was concentrated in his chest and his left hand, and it felt powerful and dangerous and so good at the same time.

"A boy? It was a boy all along? But I thought for sure that…" And the rest of the Kings speech was wiped out in Link's rage. A BOY! He had gone through so much, lived through so much, SURVIVED THROUGH SOO MUCH, AND THIS MAN DARED TO CALL HIM A BOY! The burning sensation inside of his chest and hand got hotter and hotter, before suddenly he felt like he was going to explode if he kept it in any longer.

"AGHHHHHHHHH" He screamed, and suddenly his hand shot up of its own accord, aimed straight at the king. A brilliant ball of white light shot out of his arm straight at the king, traveling as fast as an arrow, before it suddenly disappeared. And suddenly, he was tired, more tired than he had ever been in his whole life. He fell to the ground, and the last thing he saw was the startled blue eyes of the king as he blacked out.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N So yea….ummm….Sporadic much? Anyway, please review and point out my errors and such. Here is the latest installment. Tell me if it's any good.

Chapter 3

_Thump. Thump. Thump. _Link slowly woke to the sounds of a wagon being pulled through a road. The rhythmic beating of the horses walking brought a sense of calm, and for a second he had forgotten where he was and why he was there. But slowly, the memory of what he had done slowly came back to him, and he bolted upright in alarm. He checked himself, but besides his knife and pouch, which he soon noticed were both over to on his left side, he was left completely normal. His black tight fit shirt and black pants were left on, and his earrings left alone.

Slowly he sat back and pondered on what had occurred. He remembered a bright white light, the kings shocked face and then….nothing. He thought about what it could have been, but came up with no answers. The closest thing he figured it could be was Navi, but she was blue not white and…..wait….._NAVI!_

"Navi. Hey, Navi. Where are you?" he whispered softly. He wasn't sure where he was, but he never shared Navi with anybody but his closest friends. Besides, it never hurt to be careful.

"Mmmmmphhh." A voice came out muffled from the inside of his tunic. He quickly checked himself, and found the old green hat he took from Mido. He opened it up and Navi flew out.

"Oh my god! I was in there forever. I was beginning to think that you would never wake up." Navi exclaimed.

"Shhh Navi. Do you have any idea where we are or how we got here?" Link cautioned, but inwardly was relieved. He couldn't imagine life without his fairy. After a couple years, he had gotten so used to her that it seemed impossible for her to not be there anymore, and he truly was afraid for her.

"Yes! After you passed out, I hurried into this hat to hide myself. I heard the king mutter to himself, but couldn't make out what he said. Then he picked you up, super easily like, and walked off. I was able to keep track of where we went, and so I know he walked back to his cart, put you in, then got off and in a little bit the cart started. The oddest part was though; he left the bag you took on you." Navi explained.

Link nodded. It was confusing, but there was no way he would doubt Navi. Besides being his best friend, he knew that fairies had excellent sense of direction. Like she just proved, you could throw one in a bag and she would still know which way was north. It was part of their magic, besides being able to heal. Navi was not a healing fairy, but even she could heal minor bruises and cuts. He checked his pockets, and sure enough, there was the ugly brown bag he had taken. It was odd at first thought, but then he realized that it didn't matter whether or not he had the bag. He didn't know how long he had slept, but he still felt tired. Far too tired to escape from wherever he was. He was at their mercy.

Deciding that he might as well figure out what was going on; he got up, and started to head off to the exit of the carriage. He stopped though, when he realized he was still carrying the hat. He stared at it, and tried to decide what to do with it. True, it was a reminder of all he had been, all he had been trying to get rid of. It was what SHE had wanted, to leave and live a normal carefree life. But now, he had no idea where he was or what was going to happen to him. He longed for the days before, when everything was so much easier. If he was hungry he stole food, if he was thirsty he stole milk. Nowadays it was a struggle just to get the rupees together to buy enough food to sustain him. Now, he found himself in an unfamiliar situation, and he realized he could to become HIM again to live through this. Fairy Boy.

"Navi, hide in this hat. I'm going to go out and find out what's going on" Link whispered, still in indecision about what he should do. Navi obliged, and drifted into the hat silently. He wasn't sure if she knew what he was doing, but she trusted him enough to let him figure it out for himself. That touched something in him, and slowly he realized what he was about to do. He was going to become HIM again, just because a moment of weakness. True, it was always easier as Fairy Boy, but he hated that life. He didn't mind stealing and occasionally roughing someone up, it was the emptiness that he despised. He just lived life, not caring about anyone or anything. Saria gave up her life for him to get out of that, no way he was going back in.

Resolved, he put the hat on, grabbed his stuff, and walked to the door of the carriage. Pulling it open, he gazed outside, before quickly forgetting everything that just happened. He was amazed. The rolling green plains with the mighty green trees of the forest in the background painted a picture so amazing that he couldn't help but stop and stare. As an orphan, he had never had a reason to leave Kakariko, barely able to live in that city anyway. True, he could see the plains and the forest from his windmill, but never like this. The simple beauty amazed him.

"So, our little thief awakens then" A voice sounded out from right beside Link. Startled, he jumped backwards a little, before realizing how stupid that was, and looking back out again. He found the amused face of a guard on horseback looking back at him. Link stayed quiet and tried to look downtrodden. It was easy, considering he was depressed. He knew what was going to happen to him. A sentence for life would be going easy on him.

"Well, don't you look pretty glum, eh? Anyway, his majesty said he wished to speak with you when you woke up. Wait here, I 'm going to go tell the driver to stop" The guard explained. He kicked a little on his horse to speed up, and quickly pulled out of sight. Link, not having anything else to do, just sat down. He was surrounded, he could see, by guards. There was no chance of escape.

A little while later, the carriage stopped. The same guard came back again and urged him off the carriage. Link stood up, and jumped off the cart, wobbling a little from still being tired. He followed the guard over to a hill, when suddenly the guard pulled aside. He urged Link on still though, so he kept going. As soon as Link crested the hill, he gasped.

From the top of the hill, he could see Hyrule castle, and around it was the bustling city of Castle town. It was gigantic, the sprawling towers of the castle and the giant walls surrounding the town. He had heard about the drawbridge, and how it was a massive gate that closed at sundown so the stalfos children that sometimes haunted Hyrule field wouldn't be able to come in, but he had never appreciated how truly BIG it was. He felt like a child, being shown his place by the world.

"Truly amazing, is it not. It still gets to me sometimes, especially when I think about how I rule over it all." A voice sounded out from nearby. Link knew that voice, seeing as it had been the last thing he had heard before he fainted. The voice of king Harkiniann. Link turned to the left and laid eyes upon what was impossible to see last time he had encountered this legend of a man.

He was huge, but also seemed smaller. He was still 6'4, but seemed so much less threatening that Link almost believed he had imagined how scary the king looked before. His face was hard and strong, but also held the telltale creases and wrinkles of a person who smiled often. He had brown hair, blue eyes and was wearing light armor. Enough to stop an arrow, but not enough to get in the way of maneuvering, he noticed idly. He wasn't truly paying attention to that, considering he knew he had no chance against this man. All the rage from before had vanished, and suddenly he was wondering why he even felt like that. Link was not someone like that, who easily gave into his emotions when in trouble. It was odd.

"So, I guess you're probably wondering what's going on. Well, I'm not really sure either. How an orphan managed it, I don't know. While it's true Hyrule is a place of magic, and you can find it nearly everywhere in the world, it's not as if anyone can use it. I've know you are not part of the royal family, because we truly have no illegitimate children, and no other Noble family has blonde hair. It's truly a conundrum" The king mused. Link had no idea what he was talking about. Used what? And what about his hair? It was supposed to be simple, they travel to the castle, they throw him in jail, and he lives out the rest of his life there. He had no idea why the king even wanted to meet with him.

"Maybe you can shed some light on this hmm? I have so many questions for you, but I guess the most important is the simplest. Who are you?" the king asked, turning to stare Link in his Multi-colored eyes. The king seemed taken aback for a moment when looked at them, but quickly schooled his face into a neutral expression. Link had to give him credit; people were usually much more shocked when they saw his eyes. He waited a moment, mulling over the question and wondering why the KING wanted to know who he was, an orphan who didn't even know his own true last name. But the king was looking at him questioningly, and he decided he should probably not keep the ruler of Hyrule waiting.

"My name is Link…..Your majesty?" He answered questioningly, not sure how to address him.

"Don't bother, with the titles. Never liked them myself truly, and it will only make this take that much longer. Now, your name is Link you say. Odd name, but I don't recognize it at all. And that's just makes it that much more mysterious." The king explained, looking back over at the castle. He stayed looking over there for awhile, and Link began to grow uncomfortable. It was an odd feeling, speaking to the King. He was just another man, but at the same time he was so much more. He knew a lot of people who blamed the king for every problem in the country, but he knew better. Those were just idiots who weren't satisfied with life and chose to place the blame on someone else. He wasn't a very big history fan, but even he knew that the current reign was a very good one, especially considering they had just gotten out of the war.

"Well, I have too many options considering what to do with you here. The simplest and easiest would be to leave you here and pretend I never met you. You obviously have no idea what I'm talking about, considering the look on your face, and I doubt you would ever find someone who could teach you once you realized it. But, the easiest path is hardly ever the right one, just as it is in this one. Just because you won't learn it doesn't mean someone else wouldn't kill you anyway just for daring to have the ability and be a commoner." The king said, while looking like he was mulling over a difficult decision. Link had no idea what he was talking about, but as soon as he said he was a target he tensed. Having someone out to kill him was the last thing he needed now.

"Really the only thing I can do with you is bring you with me and enroll you in the school. There will be far too many complaints than I want to deal with, but they're just going to have to deal with it I suppose. Being the king has certain perks, after all." The king said softly while turning back to Link. "So will you come with me?"

Link was slowly becoming more and more confused, and was still tense after hearing someone wanted to kill him. He tried to hold it back, but he never appreciated being ignored like this unless he wanted to be. Living a life where everyone ignoring you was basically a given did that to people. Made them strive to become noticeable, even if only for a while. It proved they existed, in an otherwise terrible life.

"Come with you where? Why are you talking about me like I'm something special? And will you please tell me why someone wants to kill me?" Link asked, letting all his questions pour out. He doubted it was proper, but then again he also doubted the king truly cared at this moment.

"It seems I was right. You truly have no idea what you are capable of are you? Well Link, it looks like I am going to have to give you the whole background story huh? Well, I guess it will make conversation on the final leg to Hyrule. Come with me back to the carriage, and I will start to answer all of the questions you no doubt have." Harkiniann explained, turning around and beckoning Link to follow him. Link followed, hoping for him to stop speaking in riddles and finally tell him something concrete.

They got into the carriage, and the king knocked three times on the side that the driver was. A couple of seconds later the carriage took off. They sat on opposite sides of each other, and looked at each other in the light of the carriage. Slowly, the king began to speak.

"I trust you know of the beginnings of Hyrule? No? Well, I guess that's normal. An orphan can't eat stories, after all. Anyway, it goes like this. In the beginning, the universe was barren. Full of nothingness. Nothing lived, nothing existed, and nothing was. But that all changed when the goddesses came. Din, Nayru, and Farore, the great three goddesses of our religion. Din cam and swept across the planet, bringing shape to the flat land. Mountains were carved, valleys formed, and metals and ore put into the ground. Then came Nayru, who brought law and order to the universe. Water was made to counter land, the stars made to counter the earth, and air made to counter vacuum. Then, finally, came Farore. She brought life and love to the world. She created all the forms of beings on this world, from the trees to the grass, and from Hylian's to the Gorons. The goddesses, satisfied with their creations, gathered and left Hyrule at a single point. There is a legend passed around that, at the point that they left, a culmination of their powers stayed behind. This was called the Triforce, and the area around it became the sacred realm."

The king stopped his story here, and looked out the window. Link followed his gaze, and saw they still had a while till they reached the castle. He was glad. He never got the chance to hear stories before, and this one enraptured him. He still wondered what it had to do with him, but he shoved that thought to the back of his mind for now. Might as well enjoy what freedom he had left. He looked back at the king, and saw he seemed to reach some sort of decision, and suddenly started talking again.

"That's the end of the legend that everyone knows. But now, now we get into the hardly known truth. The sacred realm is real, which by extension means the Triforce is too. Now, right after the world was created, everyone lived peacefully. But eventually, something changed. No one knows who or what did it, but someone started killing. Then another and then another, until everyone was fighting everyone. It was an all out war for no reason other than to decide who was strongest. And then they found out about the Triforce.

The Triforce is a piece of the Goddesses power, a very portion of themselves, and no matter how small it is, it is still so much greater than anything we had ever had before. They started fighting harder and more often, until the very world was on the brink of destruction. The goddesses looked down and were saddened, for they created this world for peace, so others could live and they would no longer be by themselves in the vast universe. They sealed away the Triforce and the sacred realm, and personally stopped the fighting and appointed the royal family as the rulers of Hyrule. Then they left. No one knows what happened to them."

Now, King Daphnes had a new title under his name, at least in Link's books. Greatest Storyteller Ever. He was enraptured by it, and how so much could have happened without him knowing about it. And yet…..in the back of his mind, there was a tinge of familiarity with the tale. But it was quickly gone just as soon as he looked for it. But suddenly the king was talking again, and the orphan listened with the enthusiasm one could only show by never having heard anything like it before. The king smiled sadly then, and continued his story.

"Life continued on then, for centuries. And then a new legend came, the Hero of Time. I trust you know of this story, at least?" The king questioned. Link nodded his head automatically, and then thought about it. He was not sure where he had heard the story, but he knew it like the back of hand. He decided he must have heard it in an inn one day, and looked back to the King.

"Good, I was afraid we would not have had time for me to finish. Now, many people still think the Evil King is out there, still alive and sealed in the sacred realm. But the truth is, no matter how much dark sorcery he surrounded and bound himself with, he was still mortal. First, the princess died. She had loved the Hero, but back then status was even more important than it was now. He was a commoner and she a princess, and the laws stated they could not be together. She was ready to abolish the laws and marry him anyway, but the Hero, grieved by the loss of his faithful companion Navi, and how he believed they would never truly be together, left Hyrule. He never returned. The princess married another, had a child and passed away. And thus, the Triforce of wisdom returned to the sacred realm."

Link was startled. He had always believed the princess had gotten together with the Hero, and they had lived happily together forever after or something like that. He knew real life was never like that, but wasn't that the whole point of stories, to live out what you couldn't do? He had heard how the Hero's fairy had the same name as his, but he passed it off. Navi had already explained that she was descended from the other Navi, and she was blessed to have the same name as the one who fulfilled her duties to the utmost. He wasn't sure what she meant by that, but it sounded nice, so he let it go.

"A little while after, the sages realized the Triforce of power had returned. It could only mean the death of the Evil King, and so they rejoiced. Now two thirds of the goddess's power had returned, and only the Triforce of courage was left. And so they waited. The Hero was a mortal to, so they believed, and it only made sense that he would die soon. Even the most long lived hylian's only lasted so long, and it had been many decades since his triumph. Months, then years, then decades, and finally centuries passed without it returning, and to this day, it still is absent from the sacred realm. No one knows what happened to the Hero of Time, and we have many questions with no answers."

Now Link couldn't help it. The stories, the questions, the kindness, and the fact he wasn't dead yet. Something was going on, and he was in the middle of it with no idea what was going on. So, he asked the question that had been on his mind for awhile.

"Okay...but I still don't understand what this has to do with me. I stole from you, see?" And he held up the dirty brown bag for the king to see. "You're supposed to chain me up and starve me, beat me a little and then hold an execution for me. This is making no sense."

"Ah, but this is where the story gets more complicated, and more into our situation right now. So patience, all will be explained in time. Now, after the Triforce of power returned, there was a major turning point in history. Magic was gifted to different Hylian's, and while many believe it was the goddesses who had done this, it was not so. Magic was and is very common in Hyrule, but before not everybody could use it as we do now. Even the old magic casters could do nothing of what we do now. There were enchanted items, and sometimes the great fairies granted magical power to those they deemed worthy, but they could only use pre-ordained spells. There was no imagination involved. Except for the six sages….and the Evil King and his terrible witch stepmothers who taught him."

"The six sages had decided, when the Triforce of power returned, that it was his sorcery that made him able to defeat all of Hyrule. If more people had the ability of magic, then maybe this crisis could be averted a second time should someone else ever decide to follow in the Evil Kings footsteps. And so they entered the sacred realm, and using the power of the Triforce granted the ability of magic to several hylian's they knew they could trust to keep peace in the realm. Power, to grant the strength to use such an ability, and wisdom, to have the ability to temper the power to be used for a just cause. Courage was absent, but they decided they did not need it. After all, if you have the ability to smite your enemies even before you saw them, what was there to be afraid of? This, I believe was their greatest mistake. Courage is the strongest of them all, as was proven by the Hero of Times triumph over the Evil King. The holder of the wisdom piece was unable to do anything, as wisdom has no true power on its own. And power, without the wisdom to temper it and shape it into a weapon is useless. But with courage, even the most ordinary of men can become a legend."

"It has been a common debate amongst those who know as to whether or not the sages should have waited for courage to grant everyone magic. It is also common at these debates to argue about what courage would have added to the mix. Alas, no one knows, as the courage piece is still absent from the sacred realm. Now, I believed I have talked long enough. Do you have any questions about what I have said?"

Link sat there and digested what this man in front of him had told him. He knew about magic, everyone did. It was why the Nobles believed they were so much better than everyone else. The power to literally melt those in front of you tended to give people an inflated view of themselves. An knife or a well placed arrow in their back could still kill them fine, no matter what they believed. But as Link sat there, the pieces slowly started to fall into place.

"But then, if magic has been what you have been getting at all this time then…."Link muttered as he heard the rickety sound of a carriage rolling over a wooden bride. The drawbridge to CastleTown, he realized with a start. They were already there.

"I see you have realized it already. Yes, you Link, can use magic." King Harkinian stated, as a giant clang rang out, and a shadow passed over the carriage.


End file.
